Exhaustion
by DrKCooper
Summary: A post-ep for "Strangler" (02x04). How I would like the scene to have continued between Stella Gibson and Tanya Reed Smith. M rating.


_Disclaimer: All recognizable_ The Fall _characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners including, but not limited to the BBC. The original characters and plot are the property of the author of this fan fiction story. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any previously copyrighted material. No financial gain is associated with the publishing of this story. No copyright infringement is intended._

Author's Note: This is a post-ep for "Strangler" (02x04). I so badly wanted that scene in the morgue between Stella and Reed to continue. This is how I saw it continuing. Note the rating. -dkc

 **Exhaustion**

Reed had come across standoffish when Stella arrived at the morgue late that night. They had discussed the Jane Doe they found in the woods as Stella made herself comfortable on the couch. Eventually she lay down as Reed finished up her work for the night. She occasionally looked over to watch the scrubs-clad doctor.

When Reed stood and said she was going to get changed, Stella couldn't take her eyes off her. The mention of sleep brought with it a whole flood of emotions. No, sleep isn't what Stella had come to the doctor's office for that night.

After the doctor went to change, Stella sat on the couch for a few minutes trying to make up her mind. Why had she come to Reed's office? Why couldn't she forget their kiss?

Reed watched Stella as she approached, her anger at the woman having intruded on the somber morgue evaporating as she took in the beauty and mystery of the woman.

"What on earth are you doing?" she asked, straightening her open button-up shirt, a bit of cleavage on display for an appreciative Stella.

Stella turned, taking in the sight of Reed now out of her green hospital scrubs.

"Wondering where Rose is," she answered.

"There's nothing we can learn from her now, not tonight," the doctor spoke, moving to slide the tray back in the refrigerated space.

She walked away without questioning whether the DSI would follow. When she realized the detective was staring at the closed and sealed door, she sighed.

"I see I was mistaken in the motivation behind your coming here tonight," she kept her back to Stella and made her way to the doors. "It wasn't me you were here to see, after all."

Stella's head turned, taking in Reed's words. She was equally confused and intrigued by the medical examiner. After their kiss and the sudden parting at the elevator that would have transported them to a place entirely on the other side of the line between professional and personal, Stella hadn't known what to think.

The doctor turned off the lights and began closing the door, allowing the blonde to exit without their eyes ever meeting. A disappointment settled in as she began making her way down the hall toward her office. She was startled by Stella's 180 in the hallway. She had turned around quickly, the two now face to face, and she had grasp on Reed's outer wrist.

Stella Gibson was fearless. Stepping forward, smirking at the shorter woman's slight retreat backward toward the wall, she reached up to wipe away a tendril of hair that framed the dark caramel features she had observed endlessly.

They hadn't spoken about anything other than the case. They had shared a look at the site of the woman hanging from the tree and Stella delicately asked whether Reed could perform the autopsy. Now was the time to speak.

"Do not misunderstand me," her voice was low. "I am the same woman who wanted to take you to my bed."

With the reminder of where this already could have gone, Reed leaned into a firm and immediately needy kiss. Stella needn't be pressed. She was quick to reciprocate.

Delicate fingers slipped into blonde waves as the tracing of a lip made way for the introduction of tongue. A soft moan came from the back of one mouth only to be enveloped by the other.

It was just as the DCI pressed firmly against the other woman that two voices, a male and a female, could be heard in the back delivery bay. Reed Smith reacted quickly, pulling Stella into an unusually dark and hidden corner where they would be shielded from the approaching morgue staff.

"Isn't it late to begin an autopsy?" asked the feminine voice, the sound of a gurney coming across the tiles floor.

"The doctor is gone for the night," came the answer. "We can put the body in the drawer until morning."

One of the doors to the morgue drawers opened not long after the main door that Reed had just locked swung on its squeaky hinges. The sounds of work in the other room were unable to sustain the attention of the superintendent with the tantalizing position they shared. Pressing Stella into the wall, the medical examiner hadn't considered how the detective might react to the full frontal contact. A mewl from Stella's lips was fairly quiet, but two fingers immediately pressed against glistening lips to prevent further sound. The ball in her court, Gibson slipped one leg from its place on the outside of Reed's to the space between her slim legs. She was driving the other woman wild with the strategic placement.

Relieved to hear the two employees closing up and wandering back through the building, Reed regretfully pulled away. However, she took the well-manicured hand of her colleague and led the way to her dim office. A noise that might have been Stella's own subdued version of a chuckle was at the doctor's back. She pulled her into the office, releasing her hand as she went about locking the door and catching her breath.

It wouldn't matter that she had caught her breath because when she turned around Stella had shed her overcoat and black blazer leaving her in the tight dark navy blouse she wore beneath and the soft light from the lamp in the room revealed the two hardened nubs beneath her thin shirt.

Stepping forward with calm resolve, Dr. Smith reached out for the identification lanyard around Stella's neck. Clasping both sides, her fingers traveled down until the backs of her hands effectively grazed peaked nipples. Stella sucked in air at the touch.

The lanyard was slipped over the DCI's head and the lower hem of the shirt was bunched in Reed's hands. Her lips sought out Stella's, taking them fiercely. She wasn't concerned with any possibility of rejection. She knew better given the way the cop's hands had grabbed for her hips. Eventually a break for air would allow her to rip the shirt over the blonde's head.

Stella Gibson was the most beautiful woman Tanya Reed Smith had ever set eyes on. Her bare skin was accentuated by the glow of the lamp. The lace bra, barely covering globes of pure alabaster perfection, looked almost translucent. The medical investigator could refrain from touching no longer. Her mouth returned to dominate the kiss as her hands gradually climbed Stella's sides and came to gently cup the undersides of her lace-clad breasts. The moan that originated deep inside the detective was as arousing as the site of her near nude torso.

It was immediately clear where this was going and Stella was not about to go slowly. She pushed at the shoulders of Reed's top shirt, pushing it down her arms until the doctor acquiesced and released breasts momentarily to allow the shirt to fall over her hands and to the floor. Her mouth returned quickly to the blonde's lips, chin and neck as her hands once again traveled the lace-covered mounds before her. Her pelvis tilted forward when Stella's hands met her belt buckle, releasing it and removing the belt in a one strong pull. She felt those fingers unbuttoning her pants and dragging the zipper ever lower as her senses were all on high alert. From the taste of Stella's skin, a salty, peach-kissed flavor, to the intricate pattern of lace at the tips of her fingers, each sense took Stella in simultaneously. It was overwhelming.

Traveling around to lithe shoulder blades, the doctor slipped beneath the material and subtly unclasped the bra. Her fingers came to meet the top of one shoulder just as her mouth had blazed a path up and down that very shoulder and she slowly removed the strap. Her mouth and fingers combined to repeat the process on the opposite shoulder.

Meanwhile, Stella's impatience had left the doctor's trousers as they were—unbuttoned and open for access. She hadn't the time to worry about removing them entirely. Starting at the doctor's hips, she hooked her forefingers in the silk band of Reed's panties and brought them around to where they met beneath her navel and only slightly above a smooth mound.

Reed's breath caught in her throat as she felt one of Stella's hands slipping lower. Her head fell back at the first touch through slickened folds. The detective's mouth took advantage of new angles to kiss from the backs of ears along her neck and to her collarbone. Her hand was merely tracing the slit, not yet giving Reed the satisfaction she was eagerly awaiting.

"Stella…" she moaned.

The doctor's hands grasped each side of the blonde's head and pulled her up for eye contact. The smoldering stare they shared would begin the perfected rhythm of two women who wanted one another desperately. Reed pulled Stella's mouth to her own and pressed her tongue past plump lips, quickly exploring the depths inside and plunging as deep as could be tolerated. With the first plunge, a talented finger slipped into the doctor.

The medical examiner was surprised at how critically she desired to be filled by this woman.

Stella's mouth once again explored from mouth to jaw, jaw to neck, neck to collarbone and further. Her free hand came to clutch one breast, firmly massaging it in a tantalizing way that matched the intensity of what her finger was doing inside Reed.

Tanya Reed Smith was never one to climax easily and yet here she was on the verge already.

Not wanting the moment to pass with her pleasure alone, Reed took control. She pushed Stella backward until they were against her desk. Stella's gasp at the slight pain of her backside hitting the desk only upped her arousal.

Reed's mouth went to Stella's bare breasts. She was surprisingly adept.

Grasping the woman's dark hair with one hand, she returned to the task she had begun in the doctor's pants. She was amazed at how quickly the motions on her breasts were bringing her to the brink. She hooked her finger, which caused Reed's head to snap up. It was clear how close they both were when she saw the look on the other woman's face.

Stella dropped her hand to a lithe hip, pulling her closer. They were now grinding whilst a finger, soon joined by another, remained inside.

Their gaze never dropped.

Both women were prompted by that intense stare. Both women began to unravel.

Stella was a marvel as she came. Her face illustrious, the sounds from her lips enthralling. Reed, for her part, was dark and fiery. The perfect balance; exactly yin and yang.

Falling further back against the desk, Stella's exhaustion was evident as her hand fell from its place on the slick mound that was still feeling the remnants of waves and tremors.

"Oh my god," Reed sighed.

Once again a soft chuckle came from Stella's mouth. It was a glorious sound, a sound now associated with her satisfaction. Lifting her head, she offered the doctor a wry smile.

"You look exhausted," she brushed a strand of the inspector's hair from her eyes.

Stella nodded.

"Come home with me," she offered unabashed. "You can't go back to the hotel."

That quirked eyebrow that was nearly a trademark of DSI Gibson made an appearance.

"You can get some sleep," the doctor whispered before placing a soft kiss to raw lips.

Once again Tanya Reed Smith was dressing in her office, buttoning her shirt and buckling her trousers. She kept her eyes pinned on Stella as the inspector located her bra and shirt. She couldn't help but smirk at the progression of events that brought them here.

"Yes."

Whether it was her exhaustion speaking or something new in Stella, the woman who rarely spent the night with conquests, she wanted nothing more than to go home with the doctor.

- _finis_ -


End file.
